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Táranil
Táranil is a Noldorian Elf and a descendant of Finwë's line. He was born in the Second Age shortly before the onset of the War of the Last Alliance. Along with his younger brother Hannamenel, he is one of the last Noldorian Elves to still be living in Middle Earth during the Fourth Age. Appearance and traits Táranil is a tall Noldorian Elf with dirty blond hair and blue-grey eyes. His eye color is similar to his ancestor Finwë's own eye color, and his blond hair is a testament to Táranil's Vanyar blood. Táranil has smooth, ageless skin, short hair, and long fingers. He prefers to wear soft, dark-colored clothes so he can blend in with and move quickly through the wilderness. While he does possess a suit of Noldorian armor, he does not like wearing it if he does not have to. Táranil enjoys writing poetry, playing the harp, and singing in his free time. He also enjoys traveling, though he usually stays west of the Misty Mountains. He has been to Tower Hills and gazed into its palantír, for example. As well, he enjoys training with his bow and his sword,though he does not favor either over the other. When around others, Táranil is more reserved than most, though he will talk and be merry with friends. Táranil has acute eyesight, even for an elf, so he often serves as a scout or spotter when tracking or traveling. This is how Táranil acquired his epessë Maechenebelen, which means "sharp-eyed elf". Quite often, Táranil can be prideful (especially about the things he loves, mentioned above) to the point of arrogance. He is mostly distrusting of other races, but he is not overtly hostile to any peaceful folk. Táranil hates orcs and trolls and wargs and the like, which is part of the reason why he stayed with Elrond's sons to clense Middle Earth of that filth. Táranil also has a huge longing for the sea, but he is also fearful of leaving Middle Earth. This internal strife has left him deeply conflicted about his obligation to heed the call of all elves and travel to Aman. Equipment Táranil owned a suit of Noldorian battle armor (pictured to the left). It consists of full-body golden armor, a golden helmet, a golden shield, a spear, and a bastard sword. He only wore this armor when it was absolutely necessary, such as when he helped defend Lothlorien during the War of the Ring. Táranil's more common attire can be seen at the top of the page. It consists of green and black clothes with leather boots and gloves and a quiver of arrows on on the back. There is also minimal armor around the chest and shoulders area and an armored helmet (which is different from the helmet that is part of Táranil's Noldorian armor set). Táranil preferred to use his fine wooden bow Alagos with this lighter armor, though he also carried his one-and-a-half handed sword Gilden (which looked similar Glamdring) with him while wearing this clothing. History Táranil was born in the elven haven of Lindon in the Second Age 3309, shortly before the beginning of the War of the Last Alliance. His mother Mirion was a descendant of Írimë, a daughter of Finwë. Thus, Táranil is technically a Noldorion Prince, though because his Noldorian bloodline comes from his mother's side, he has no claim to the kingship of the Noldorions. Táranil was not raised to believe he was royalty. Táranil's father Thaladan was a Sindar elf who participated in the War of the Last Alliance. Because of this, Táranil spent many of his formative years away from his father. Before the war started, Táranil was trained by Círdan as an apprentice shipwright. When the Last Alliance formed, Círdan left to fight in the war, leaving Táranil to continue his craft with other young apprentices. While he was a still a boy, the Noldo lived a casual, easy life, where he could play instruments, sing, practice other arts, and play with elves. Around this time, he met and befriended the Noldo Hannamenel. Táranil was also quite close to his mother when he was young, for she stayed in Lindon during the war. And in the midst of young Táranil apprenticeship she gave him his amliessë, Ëaronwë, which means "child of the sea". After the war of the Last Alliance ended, Táranil's father returned from the war tired and depressed. He longed to go to Aman and tried to convince Mirion and Táranil to join him. Táranil offered to build his father a ship, but told him that he did not want to go. Mirion as well thought that Táranil should at least reach adulthood and find a wife before making the journey. Still, Thaladan was weary in Middle Earth, and with every day, he grew greyer and slower and more tired. Mirion begged him to go to Aman before his suffering took his life, and Thaladan agreed. He took a ship (which Táranil helped build) out of the Grey Havens early in the Third Age with other elves and was not seen again by Táranil for thousands of years. As Táranil grew older, he started to travel around Eriador more, playing music as often as he would practice with the sword and bow. He visited numerous places, including The Shire, Tower Hills, Bree, and Lothlórien (which was technically outside of Eriador; regardless, this is as far east Táranil would travel during this time). While Táranil was generally distrustful of Dwarves and Men (and to a lesser extent, Hobbits), he would often play music for them to as he traveled; in return, they would give him food, spices, money, and sometimes even traveling tips (such as which roads to take at what times, etc). During these travels, Táranil occasionally ran into orcs or trolls and honed his fighting skills on them. One reason why Táranil traveled so much is that he felt the call of the sea heavy upon him - and only when he was constantly moving would that innate elven desire die down. Still, Mirion soon decided to pass into the west, and she asked Táranil if he would accompany her. Táranil refused, for he still loved Middle Earth and had not yet found a wife. So soon his mother left and Táranil had no family left on Middle Earth. What friends he had made were either dead, in the uttermost west, or scattered amongst several elven strongholds. At this time, utterly alone, Táranil chose to wander with the Rangers of the North, helping them cleanse Eriador of orcs and trolls. In the middle of the Third Age, Táranil fell in love with a Sindar elf maiden named Díneniel. She lived in Rivendell, and he came to visit her as often as he could (mostly when he was not with the rangers). The two of them courted for nigh a year and grew romantically close. Before they were to be married, though, Díneniel joined a wandering company set to take the hallowed journey to Tower Hills. Once she would have returned from that trip, she would have married Táranil. Yet as fate would have it, Díneniel's company was ambushed by orcs not long into its journey, with all members being killed in the process. When Táranil learned of this, his eyes grew dark and his heart sank as if into the sea. He was never the same thereafter. Even in years to come, when his grief died down and he could smile again, there was always a shadow of pain hovering around him. Táranil felt the call to journey to Aman grow even stronger after he lost his would-be wife. Táranil rejected this call, for his anger and fury was even greater than his longing for the sea. He spent more and more of his time hunting down orc tribes and packs that were plaguing Eriador, hoping that his guardianship would prevent another wandering company from being massacred. During this time, Táranil wrote a haunting lament about Díneniel. When the War of the Ring broke out, Táranil journeyed to Lothlórien to defend it. As a part of the mighty army of elves, Táranil fought back the armies of Dol Guldor. After the One Ring was destroyed and the evil powers cast down, Táranil returned to Rivendell and took up residence there. He frequently played his lament for Díneniel while staying there and was reunited with his childhood friend and fellow Noldo, Hannamenel. In addition, Táranil became friends with Lord Elrond's sons, Elladan and Elrohir. He shared their terrible hate of orcs and their thirst to rid the world of darkness. When Elrond, Galadriel, and other high elves decided to leave Middle Earth at the end of the Third Age, Táranil stayed behind with Elrond's sons. When the Fourth Age began, Elrond's sons formed a company of high elves in Rivendell whose goal was to hunt down and eradicate the remaining orcs in Middle Earth. He was one of the last Noldorian elves on Middle Earth by the start of the Fourth Age. Táranil and the group led by Elrond's sons spent the coming years exterminating the orcs. When the Dwarves retook Moria, the elven kill squad intercepted the stragglers fleeing into Eriador. Afterwards, the elves were convinced that they had destroyed all evil beings west of the Misty Mountains. And by this time, even Rivendell was abandoned, and Celeborn was long gone from Middle Earth. Aside from the group led by Elrond's sons, there were no more Noldorian elves left in Middle Earth. At the same time, Táranil visited Bree and met his future wife, a human named Gilwen. She was the first person who was able to make Táranil feel love again and forget grief. As the other Noldorian elves were already preparing go into the west - for they had completed their task to preserve Eriador - Táranil was faced with a problem. He knew he was ready to go west with the others, but he had also fallen in love with another woman. She was a human, so she could not go with him into the west. Táranil spent more than a year with her before marrying her and getting her pregnant. Soon, they had a child Táranil named Ëarion, which means scion of the sea in Quenya. Still, even as Táranil was raising his young half-elf son, he was being pressured by the last of the elves to take the journey west with them. Círdan was preparing ships for Elrond's sons, and Hannamenel was also going to go with them. Táranil's fear was that he would be the last of his kind in the world. In the Fourth Age 120, the rest of the Noldorian group's boats were completed by the great elven shipwright and they set out from the Grey Havens. Táranil went with them mostly out of fear that if he did not go to Aman at that time, then he would never be able to go - that it would appear that he had forsaken the holy land and, as consequence, the Valar would not allow him to leave Middle Earth like the humans. He wasn't a half-elf, so he wasn't able to make the choice to be a human and forsake Aman; but by marrying a human and fathering a half-elf, Táranil was afraid that he was sending the same message to the Valar. He felt intense guilt in leaving his young son and wife, but Táranil felt he would be doomed otherwise. He did not think he had a choice in the matter. Etymology The name Táranil is a Quenya word meaning "wise friend". In Sindarin, this name would be Idhrenmeldir. Táranil is his essi and preferred name. Táranil's amliessë in Quenya is Ëaronwë, which means "child of the sea". The Sindarin translation of his amliessë is Aearhen. Táranil's epessë is Maechenebelen, which means "sharp-eyed elf" in Sindarin. Táranil's sword, Gildin, means "silver spark" in Sindarin. Táranil's bow, Alagos, means "storm of wind" in Sindarin. Genealogy Category:Elves Category:Characters Category:Noldor Category:Warriors